GameZone: NARUTO: Path of the Ninja 2 E3 2008 Preview

This September, Naruto fans will get another crack at a role-playing game based on their favorite anime series. Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2, the sequel to the Game Boy Advance/Nintendo DS hit, was created solely for Nintendo's dual-screened machine. The graphics are improved (think SNES quality but slightly better), the controls are similar to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and the battles were inspired by the likes of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

And those aren't the only games from which inspiration was drawn. Path of the Ninja 2 also looked to Pokemon, a game that allows you to carry six monsters at one time but only use one or two simultaneously. This game has a similar setup: you can have four characters in your party but only use three of them. That's where the Ninja Tag feature comes in. When you want to use the fourth character, you must replace it with one of the three already in use, a la Pokemon.